FreeStor: Optimization

Keeping the lights on” is no longer a sufficient reason for the IT department’s continued existence. In fact, most businesses are insisting that their IT organizations go far beyond this simple baseline and require IT to constantly innovate and move the business forward. At the same time, budgetary funds that were previously directed to foundational operations are now being eyed for redirection to activities that help propel the business rather than just helping it to stand still.

This can be a contradiction of directives, often summed up as “doing more with less.” On one hand, IT must continue to ensure the sustainability of the data center environment while also ensuring that the company is agile enough to meet new business needs. In order to be successful at balancing these directives, IT must find ways to:

• Simplify the data center, which has become a complex morass requiring deeply skilled and expensive staff to operate.• Ensure maximum return on investment (ROI) in technology purchases.

Simply put, IT needs to optimize its operations and technology to improve sustainability, reduce complexity, and reduce the total cost of ownership for all services. Nowhere are these needs more apparent than in storage. For many, storage environments and operations are among the most expensive resources supported by IT. Traditionally, storage has been complex, requiring highly skilled staff members, and expensive, with IT staff struggling to make the best buying decisions around this resource.